NM Fashion DirectorKen Downing chatted
with the designer before
his New York runway
show about his humble
start, love for fashion, and
surprisingly, tube tops!

It starts from a point of confidence, a sense of self,
a sense of personal style and luxury.

KD: The purity of white came through as such a strong message on your Spring runway. Of course, you brought that very Reed Krakoff sensibility, adding a bit of acid yellow, or pairing a gorgeous little skirt back to, like, a sweatshirt, but all in such a luxurious way.

RK: Blending opposites is the way I create something that's new to me and to my eye. Playing with disparate ideas-taking something
sport-inspired like a sweatshirt, a T-shirt, or a trench coat, and rendering it in something luxurious like cashmere and silk and lacquered crepe
de chine, or introducing leather and python and exotic skins. It's the idea of taking these things that are kind
of everyday-you think of them as comfort pieces-but creating them in a more luxurious way.

KD: Python's really become almost a signature for you.

RK: Yeah, definitely. It's one of the first materials and patterns and ideas that we really embraced when we started the company. I think the reason it stuck is because it embodies all of those things we've been talking about. It has a luxuriousness to it. It has a coolness. It can be quite architectural. It can be quite feminine. It really embodies that idea of being able to take a pattern, a fabrication, a silhouette, and change the way it feels.

KD: I'm crazy about your handbags, with that little touch of color. Your color sense has a very artistic quality.

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ET: Times weren't easy for me as a kid. All I ever wanted to do was make enough money to help take care of my family. All the money I made I sent home to my seven brothers and sisters. All of them live here now and have worked for me at one time or another–some of them still do!

KD: Your story is the quintessential American dream. Did you realize at the time it was the beginning of what you've become today?

ET: No, I had no idea. After the tube tops, I created a disco dress with a handkerchief hem. When girls danced the hustle a flash of their panties would show.

KD: It sounds very risque! Did you dance the hustle, too?

ET: Yes! The women loved when they would dance and the skirt on my dresses would open a little.
It was very sexy; it was the moment.

KD: When did Elie Tahari become a full collection?

ET: In 1979, we launched Tahari with a fashion show at Studio 54, the second week it was open. It was just called Tahari at the time. I had just been to Paris and seen all the men's tailor-made suits from the '20s. I was so inspired, I began making pantsuits for women instead of the polyester dresses all the women were wearing to work. The pants and jackets were tailored like menswear. The jackets became so popular, they called me the "King of the Jacket." I must have sold a million pantsuits in the '70s and I still have the idea of the suit in my collections.

KD: You have good intuition as a designer about creating clothes women desire.

ET: I'm a merchant. I'm a designer. I've always known what people are watching and what women want. Anyone can show you clothes; after all these years, I want to show women what they want. With each one of my designs, there's a woman who wants to wear it.

KD: You're always listening to women.

ET: Always listening, always thinking about them! I want to make clothes that make women feel good.

KD: And tailoring has always been an important component. Where did you learn the art?

ET: Like so many things, I learned on the job. My father sold fabrics in Iran that he would bring to market on a donkey. He bartered for food and household things. I think about my father often and how hard he worked to make a living. I work hard because it's what I grew up with.

KD: Today, so many of the ideas that launched your career continue to be an important part of your designs: a sexy dress, a tailored jacket, and now for Spring, the introduction of techno fabrics...

ET: Fashion is an evolution! Right now, I see the need for more casual relaxed clothes that are still beautiful. In fashion everyone wants to be shocking with raw edges and avant-garde ideas. But beauty is what I like because everyone wants to be beautiful. The techno fabrics I introduced for Spring balance nature and the high-tech world. High-tech and stretch technology changed how we dress because it added comfort in so many fabrics. And what I love about the Spring collection is how we mixed the feminine with the high-tech. It looks fresh.

KD: All of the fabrics, patterns, and prints in your collections are exclusive to Elie Tahari?

ET: Yes, I have a team of five artists who create all of my prints.

KD: For Spring there's a watercolor, artistic inspiration to the prints.

ET: (Looking at his phone) I have so many wonderful prints! I go to galleries, museums, and art shows to find inspiration. I have thousands of inspiration pics on my phone.

KD: Your phone is your own personal gallery and archive!

ET: Yes, yes! My phone keeps all of my very favorite ideas.

KD: Much like the collection, Natural vs. Techno, it's the hand of the painter realized on the technology of the phone. Elie, one last question. What gets you out of bed every morning?

ET: I'm here to do good things in the world. I love this country because it's open. In America, you're accepting of everything and everyone. Only New York accepted me, only America. So I want to do something good for someone else. I love women, I love the truth. The truth is what gets me out of bed every morning.

Elie Tahari Collection

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